Lawmakers on Monday morning will hold a continued public hearing on the updated rules and regulations for the island’s medical marijuana program.

Sen. Dennis Rodriguez’s committee on health recently made markups on Bill 210, which would adopt the rules recently rewritten by the Department of Public Health and Social Services and expand the program to allow visitors to use medical marijuana.

In the marked-up rules and regulations, a provision was added to define “drug free school zones,” in which medical cannabis businesses cannot be established. According to the bill markups, a drug free school zone means any area within 1,000 feet of a public or private educational institution or its grounds (elementary to post-secondary). Zones also include the vehicle of any school bus which transports students while in motion.

Possession rules

Under the allowable amount of cannabis a qualified patient can possess, the marked-up rules and regulations now includes 2.5 ounces of dried cannabis or its THC equivalency. A previous version of the bill only stated a patient could possess 2.5 ounces of dried or prepared cannabis, which did not include other THC products.

The allowable amount of cannabis must be purchased from a dispensary every 14 days, rather than the previously stated 30 days. The new markups state the regulation commission can review the allowable amount “from time to time.”

Permitted spaces

The rules and regulations specify which public places where medical marijuana use is prohibited, including public beaches, Government of Guam offices, restaurants and retail stores.

It also includes a list of areas excluded from the public places, where medical marijuana uses are allowed. These include nursing care institutions, hospices, assisted living homes and adult care facilities.

Provisions were made to include more spaces where medical marijuana is permitted:

A private enclosed workplace occupied exclusively by one or more medical cannabis smokers.

The provisions also stated the rules and regulations can’t prohibit the right of every private employer to designate any place of employment under their control as a non-smoking area, or an area where medical marijuana use is prohibited.

Practitioner guidelines

The drafted rules and regulations describe in detail written certification which Guam licensed practitioners must write in order for a qualified patient or primary caregiver to obtain medical cannabis.

Practitioners must have on file a signed document outlining guidelines showing they will act in the best interest of the patient, before they consider recommending marijuana as a form of therapy.

The guidelines include:

Assuring patients the practitioner considers cannabis therapy only if the expected benefits outweigh risks to the patient.

Informing patients about treatment goals.

Discussing known risks and realistic benefits of marijuana therapy.

Reviewing the qualified patient’s history of controlled substance prescriptions, to see whether combining medications could put the patient at risk for overdose, dependence or abuse of medication.

Avoiding recommending marijuana, while prescribing opioid pain medication and benzodiazepines at the same time, in light of the threat of a heroin epidemic.

Advertisements

The rules and regulations previously stated dispensaries were not allowed to advertise their businesses in any media, including print, online, social media, television, radio and billboards. The section on advertisement was removed from the rules and regulations, meaning there are no longer restrictions on advertisement.